New Inland waterway user fees???

User fees

It always amazes me that there seems to be a shortfall in funding in just about everything, the overspending in the past now means less $$$$ to go around to fund the massive amount of Gov.t programs, two choices, prioritize or increase revenue.

The problem with continually increasing revenues, it leads to Gov.t belief that the revenues is a never ending stream, guess what....it has dried up.

so, they go to the third option....borrow what may never be paid back...

Best option ?? balanced budget except in the face of imminent danger from invasion.

Milton Friedman said: “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand”

That is a good one, let's see what else might happen there;

The cost of flood insurance would probably go up.

Large corporate farms would receive water diverted from the Nile or the Niger in order to grow subsidized watermelons.

Hi,

It might be happening already if this e mail is anything to go by:

The Irish have solved their own fuel problems. They imported 50 Million tonnes of sand from the Arabs & they're going to drill for their own oil.

I was told that they dredge and maintain area's of the ICW based upon how much fuel is sold in that area and that was how they calculated usage. Someone in Georgia was telling me that's the reason the ICW is getting so bad and there are so many areas that need to be dredged there, is because since a lot of boaters are avoiding it, fuel sales are down, so they think that it's used less, and therefore gets less maintanence over the years......when the reason it gets less traffic is because there are a lot of spots that aren't maintained at 12' at MLW, and a lot of commercial traffic is avoiding it as well.........

Trust fund? Safe, reliable, highly cost effective???

I would bet those words are similar to the ones they use to describe the Social Security Trust Fund...which we all know does not exist.

I've never seen the gubmint do anything right or in a cost effective way. Now they want us to believe they could do it with this? Not likely.

They never seem to realize that when they raise fees, usage goes down and so does total revenue. How about cutting bacx on welfare. If they did that....well, that's a whole nuther thread!

Will my EZ PASS work? Or is this an employment plan for toll collectors?

Things will cost what they cost and the money will be gotten. Just look at Greece if you think there's any choice. Heck, my cable bill just went up 333% and gas? Well that's a whole different thread that's already been written. 12' Capt. J? I didn't think it was mandated to be that deep. In fact I thought it was 6'. There's sure a few spots shallower than that at low tide even.
Like everything else, get less pay more. Although I did cut off my cable.

Right you are. In fact all the way to Brownsville. Except south of Ft. Pierce: ("provides for a least depth of 12 feet from Norfolk, VA, (I.W.Mile 0.0) to Fort Pierce, FL, (I.W.Mile 965.6), thence 10 feet to Miami, FL, (I.W.Mile 1089.0), and thence 7 feet to Key
West, FL, (I.W.Mile 1243.8). The Miami to Key West section of the waterway has been completed only as far as Cross Bank (I.W.Mile 1152.5); the remainder has been deferred for restudy. Although no work has been performed on this section of the waterway, a channel, marked in accordance with I.W. markings, leads from Cross Bank to Big Pine Key along the northwesterly side of the Florida Keys. At Big Pine Key, the waterway bifurcates going north through Florida Bay or souththrough Hawk Channel to Key West. The channel has a controlling depth of about 5 feet"). I hadn't looked that up in years as the boats I run are happy if they have 6'. With reduced barge traffic on the east coast section of the ICW I'd have to imagine the situation will be low priority in these times. One eye on the depth finder for the foreseeable future.